Personal Swap – Ming et Ting

I am in a personal swap with the lovely and talented corduroy cat (of Craftster.org) this month and I received from her on Friday!
After bouncing around a few ideas on themes, I spotted a needle felted two-headed kitten on Cat’s wist and totally fell in love with it. I’ve always wanted something needle felted, so she offered to make me my very own Siamese kitten, only “siamese” in both senses of the word. This spun off into a sideshow/twisted carnival type theme for our swap.

Meet Ming et Ting

The name is both a play off of Chang and Eng, one of the most famous sets of siamese/conjoined twins in history, and my own Siamese cat, Ling. Because it shipped from England, we decided I would find an appropriate home/jar for her once she arrived, to avoid the risk of damage en route. Luckily mom had this fantastic old jar that fits her perfectly! Its the old style of preserve jar, with the glass and metal lid, and the glass has a lovely aged looked to it. Corduroy cat provided me with some labels for the kitty – I glued one of them to an old library card she sent me, cut it into the shape of a tag and then attached it to the jar with a leather thong.

I particularly like that she chose to do her with a conjoined face (a rarer congenital disorder called diprosopus) instead of two separate heads. Hehe, it just appeals to the bio nerd in me ^_^ I also love her little ears, so cute.

I have to say that the reactions to kitty have been really interesting. A few people have actually been somewhat horrified by it, and a few others have been just generally uncomfortable around it, but for the most part, people LOVE it. I think it’s completely badass, and it looks awesome on my mantle!

Her little tail is also adorable!

Corduroy cat also sent me a whole bunch of fantastic extras – bits and bobs to use in my collages and other generally awesome little bits.
Thank you, corduroy cat, for making my first overseas swap an awesome experience, and for sending such a thoughtful and amazing package! I really hope you like the package I’m sending you as much as I’ve enjoyed yours!!! :D